PHILIPPINES: San Miguel denies Coca-Cola Amatil rumours

San Miguel, the Philippines-based food and beverage company, has denied rumours that it wants to buy back Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines from Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd.In a statement to the Manila Stock Exchange San Miguel said: "The company wishes to clarify that there are no proposals to either Coca-Cola Amatil or Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc. regarding this matter."It has been previously reported that San Miguel apparently made an informal proposal to buy back Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines for between $1 billion and $2 billion. A far cry from when CCA bought the business from San Miguel and Coca-Cola Co, three years ago and San Miguel received 220 million CCA shares for its 70% stake in the company.The alleged proposal by San Miguel follows a 10% slump in consumption of Coca-Cola in the Philippines in 1999; a slump, which CCA says, is due to a general downturn in consumer confidence.A CCA spokesman said: "No proposal has been put to us." He continued by saying that CCA is forecasting an eventual return to sales growth in the Philippines, which had been 33% two years ago.

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